Treatment of oil wells



Fatenteol Mar. 3, 11%36 entree stares parent or ies ramitrluanr or on. WELLS Henry A. Ambrose and Abraham .l. Teplitz, Pittsburgh, Pa, assignors to Gulf Research 5 Development (Jorporation, Wilmington, Del a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application January 12, 1935, Serial No. 1,580

'7 Claims. (Cl. 166-731) This invention relates to treatment of oil The substances most useful in the invention wells; and it comprises a method of shutting off are plastics, insoluble in water and more or less water from oil wells penetrating oil bearing and soluble in oil, and of a generally waxy, cryswater bearing formations wherein any water talline nature. The crystal structure can be relstanding in the well is removed and there is inatively large or it can be small. But strictly jected into the well and surrounding formations amorphous materials are not so useful. The a solution in a solvent freely miscible with wasolvent used in conjunction with the plastic subter, of a water insoluble, oil soluble, plastic body stance depends partly on the nature of the subof a more or less waxy and crystalline characstance. Acetone and the lower alcohols are the ter, the solution penetrating the water formamost convenient and are cheap. in tions and the plastic substance being deposited Commercial stearic acid works well. This subin the pores of the water formation upon allowstance is a more or less waxy material, of crysing the well to flow; all as more fully hereintalline structure. It can readily be dissolved in after set forth and as claimed. 95 per cent ethyl alcohol to form a thin, mobile Oil wells often penetrate water bearing strata solution, which penetrates even the finest pores adjacent oil bearing strata and delivering waof the formation. Such solution, on being left ter into the well. It is undesirable for a well in the moist formation, takesup water and deto deliver water along with oil and it is a deposits out the stearic acid as a plastic deposit, sideratum in the art to shut ed the water. tenaciously engaging the interstices and crev- Methods have been proposed and have come into ices and resisting dislodgment even under high 20 use for locally shutting off all flows into a well, formation pressures. Another good and cheap these involving cementing, encasement, etc. But material is naphthalene, which can be dissolved such methods are non-selective; theyrecluce the in ethyl or other alcohols. Ordinarily 95 per cent oil flow to the same extent as the water flow. ethyl alcohol dissolves 13.4 pounds naphthalene And in any case, sealing at the well face has the per hundred pounds alcohol at C. to form a 25 disadvantage that the differential pressure is thin, stable solution which canbe readily pumped, high, tending to burst the seal. piped and handled and which penetrates freely According to the invention, there is provided a into the formations. In each case the precipimethod for shutting off local flows of water into tated deposits are insoluble in water but are sol- 30 a well without substantially or permanently afuble enough in oil to prevent the possibility of a0 fecting oil flow into the well. This is done by any permanent plugging of the oil formations. injecting into the well and formations a solution, They do not tend to gelatinize in oil. in a solvent freely miscible with water, of a. water Paraffin waxes can also be used and have the insoluble, oil soluble, plastic substance of a crysadvantage that they are cheap and plentiful in talline waxy nature. The solutions are thin, oil producing regions. The wax need not be 35 which permits them to be forced far into the adpurified and it may be of the micro-crystalline joining formations, where sealing is most eftype, including so-called slack wax (crude pressfective. The pressure gradient is much lower able wax) or of the higher melting micro-crystalat points in the formation than at the well face, line type: the unpressable waxes. These can be and seals are much more effective at remote dissolved in acetone or other suitable solvent 40 points. On release of pressure water tends to miscible with water. The solubility of hard crysflow inward towards the well, mixing with and talline paraffin in ordinarily more or less moist carrying off the solvent and leaving the plastic acetone is not very great, but by specially treatsubstance deposited in the pores and crevices of ing the acetone and using special grades of the water strata,'plugging them effectively. The parafiin a higher solid content may be obtained. 45 substance being more or less soluble in oil, any A crude,,dry grade of acetone containing higher accidental deposit "of the substance in the oil ketones is most useful. With a higher solid constrata is flushed out during the subsequent protent in the liquid, the solution becomes applicable duction of the well. But the plastic precipitated for the present purposes. These waxes are freely in the water formations is of such nature that miscible with oil. The deposit formed on re- 50 it is not dislodged and water pressure in the moval of the solvent from these wax solutions formation merely tends to seal the pores tighter. has excellent characteristics for the present pur- As a rule, any water or brine standing in the poses; Other natural waxes can be used. well is removed before the treatment described, Other substances of generally waxy and crysto prevent premature deposition of the substance. talline character are equally useful, the above 55 oil flow is unaffected.

examples being given by way of illustration. Substances which form a gel or a solid of any sort with oil are undesirable, because this results in plugging the oil formation to a greater or less degree. The precipitated substance should be miscible with oil. This does not require that it should'be freely or quickly soluble, but it should be capable of being flushed away in a reasonable time by the oil.

The crystalline, waxy structure is important. With crystalline materials of the type described, even when the crystalline structure is quite small and the crystals are quite plastic rather than rigid, as in petrolatum type waxes, the crystal line structure makes for better adhesion of the precipitated substance in the minute pores and crevices of the water formation. Much better plugging is obtained than with strictly amorphous materials. Moreover, using crystalline substances, the crystals tend to build up and grow into a compact deposit, whereas amorphous materials under the conditions in a well bottom may tend to form a slime or a loose aggregation, much less effective for the present purposes than a crystal growth.

In a specific example of the invention applied to selectively shutting off water in an oil well penetrating adjacent oil and water sands, water standing in the well is bailed out and there is introduced into the well under pressure abatch of 10,000 pounds per cent ethyl alcohol containing dissolved therein 200 pounds crude commercial naphthalene. The solution is thin and mobile and can be readily pumped by ordinary equipment. High pressure is applied, to drive the solution far into the water formation, where sealing is most effective. Pressure is maintained for a while and then released. The oil flow is substantially unaffected, while the Water flow is substantially stopped. The plugging efiect is permanent.

In another example of a specific embodiment of the invention, an oil well penetrating water and oil formations is treated for shutting off the water. A batch of 200 pounds of crude stearic acid in 10,000 pounds 95 per cent ethyl alcohol is pumped into the well under high pressure. After a while pressure is released and the water flow is found to be greatly reduced, while the In a third example, a batch of 20 pounds crude paraffin wax of melting point F. in 10,000 pounds acetone is introduced in the manner described into a well producing oil and water. The water flow is selectively stopped.

The treating solutions described are neutral and require no precautions against corrosion of metallic parts. They may be pumped and handled with ordinary equipment and they are stable; that is, there is no tendency toward premature precipitation. The materials are cheap and readily obtainable.

What we claim is:

1. The method of selectively shutting ofi water in an oil well penetrating-oil and water bearing formations which comprises filling the interstices of the water bearing formation by forcing thereinto under high pressure a solution comprising a water insoluble, oil soluble plastic substance of a waxy and crystalline character and a solvent freely miscible with water, the said substance depositing out in the water bearing formation and the solvent mixing with the water.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic substance is a hydrocarbon wax.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic is stearic acid.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic substance is naphthalene.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid is an alcohol.

6. The method of claim 1 is acetone.

7. The method of selectively shutting ofi water in an oil well penetrating oil and water bearing formations which comprises removing from the well any water standing therein, and then filling the interstices of the water bearing formation by forcing thereinto under high pressure a solution comprising a water insoluble, oil soluble plastic substance of a waxy and crystalline character and a solvent. freely miscible with water, the solution being inert to oil and of such character as not to form sealing masses with oil, the said substance depositing out'in the water bearwherein the liquid ing formation and the solvent mixing with the water.

HENRY A. AIWBROSE. ABRAHAM J. .TEPLITZ. 

